TYSELEY TOC NEEDS CREWS
Nascent TOC is recruiting staff to take up the baton.
Britain’s newest train operating company is recruiting. Vintage Trains Ltd is after drivers and guards, among others (page 102). Plus, in the wake of receiving the allimportant signed papers from the Office of Rail and Road (SR484), Tyseley has once again pushed its share issue, which runs until December and, as of October 1, had reached just under £1 million. In late September, the organisation was basking in publicity in the national media, including The Economist, the Daily Mail and the BBC.
What’s more, Tyseley has actually started operations under its own banner – though, as I write, it’s not yet steam that’s bringing in the cash. Rather, it is non-passenger ‘background work’ for the modern railway: the very first official train was mileage accumulation on the Bedford-Bletchley branch with a Vivarail ‘D-Train’, on September 27. Plus, says Cath Bellamy, the former managing director of Chiltern and Hull Trains who has moved to fill the same role with the startup TOC (SR481): “I can tell you that we’re working on plans that will allow us to run steam this year – and hiring in coaches if ours aren’t available. Rood Ashton Hall is available, and we hope to be running-in Clun Castle during October.”
That will be welcome news to Vintage Trains’ customer base and others who, apart from open days at Tyseley itself and pannier tank No. 7752 at Paignton, have been starved of its ‘main liners’ all year; there’s been talk of starting running earlier, but the last charters ran before Christmas.
In essence though, the ORR signing VTL’s licences has now kick-started the new organisation’s process towards running its trains – hence the advert for people.
One person joining the new outfit will be familiar to readers and Tyseley alike: Ray Churchill. With his red neckerchief, LM-badged greasetop and ready grin, Ray is coming out of retirement to return to footplates that were regular territory in a previous life with West Coast.
Cath sees “maybe half a dozen guys joining us” by the end of the year, a “mixture of diesel [crew], diesel to train on steam and steam” – and Ray will have a key role to play.
He is, she says, “our lead steam driver, but part of what he can contribute is passing the baton. It’s about developing the men and women who are coming up behind him.”
Crews are not all that’s on Tyseley’s to-do list. It already has its own passenger vehicles – the Mk 2s and ‘Met-Camm’ Pullmans used before – and these are currently being put through the ‘derogation’ process to run.
However, VTL is considering using other stock while that process is going on – and it may carry on doing that afterwards too.
For, Cath says, the organisation is “looking at hiring in coaches, both in the short term and in the long term to be able to offer a second rake.”
Parallel to this process is progress towards delivering non-steam aspects in VTL’s plan. Unsurprisingly, the organisation’s MD echoes something that Chairman Adrian Shooter has explained before – that the new organisation also intends to offer training and non-passenger work for the modern railway (SR477).
“We know we are unlikely to be able to ensure a long-term sustainable future with just steam,” says Cath. “We’re not putting ourselves in a little box. Our main focus is to generate funds to keep steam going in the long term, but we know that to do that we need to do things more widely.”
Cath describes VTL as an organisation that is “taking baby steps.”
As for public steam trips, she says she hopes “we’ll be able to announce what we’re doing this year in October. Then I want to start thinking about next year.”
Will things start with that Tyseley staple – a ‘Shakespeare Express’?
“We haven’t actually decided that yet, we’re exploring different options. I’m keen to get at least one ‘Shakespeare’ in: people know and love it, and it’s on our doorstep.
“It’s our hope, and our aim, to run steam services before the end of the year, and I’d like to include at least one ‘Shakespeare’ in that.”
There is one thing hanging in the air over all this: cash. Cath says that all the trains being planned contribute profit. However, another way of saying that Tyseley has so far successfully raised nearly £1m through the share issue is that it still has £2m to go to its ultimate £3m target by December 31.
Establishing the TOC is not all the share money has been slated for – refurbishing coaches is also a priority.
“We can’t do all this on our own,” says Cath. “This is our mission. We’ve got professional people in place but we need help. This is very much a community activity. We’re really trying to make something of this.
“Lots of shareholders have been nagging us about the licence because they’ve said that once we have that they’ll invest more. People should be getting excited now because we’re off the starting block. So we’re confident, but we’ve got to keep working hard at it.”
IT’S OUR HOPE, AND OUR AIM, TO RUN STEAM SERVICES BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR
CATH BELLAMY